Zain Group, a pioneer of mobile communications in eight markets in the Middle East and Africa, has today detailed a range of humanitarian activities it has and continues to undertake towards bettering the conditions of beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

At a Group level, Zain in close coordination with its operation in Jordan has pledged a much-needed amount of half a million USD that will be put towards alleviating some of the misery being felt by inhabitants in Gaza, with the amount earmarked for food and medical supplies for the needy.

So moved by the human suffering taking place in Gaza, other operational entities within the Zain Group have also been inspired to organize their own humanitarian support including complimentary communication services to contact loved ones as well as fundraising efforts and campaigns to supply much needed financial and material resources to the people of Gaza.

Zain Kuwait is offering free calls, SMS to Palestine for a week starting Saturday 26 July and until Saturday 2 August. In addition it is providing an opportunity for customers to donate by sending an empty text message or any text to 99997 whereby one Kuwaiti Dinar goes fully to humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

On the ground, Zain Jordan due to its proximity to Gaza is supporting Zain Group’s efforts in handling all the logistic in distributing the much needed supplies. The relief will be distributed with through a local charitable organization and other relief agencies working on the ground in Gaza.

Zain Bahrain organized an employee fundraising campaign and the company has pledged to match the amount raised by employees and donate an additional amount towards the plight of Palestinians in Gaza through the Royal Charity Organization and will offer 50% discount on calls to Palestine until the third day of Eid.

Meanwhile, Zain Sudan has to date donated in the vicinity of $20,000 for food and medical supplies to Gaza and designated the number 5110 for customers wishing to donate further amounts. A further fundraising campaign has also been established involving Zain Group employees, and a further substantial cash amount is expected from this exercise.

These activities are reflective of Zain Group’s intense sense of corporate social responsibility and its tireless efforts to improve the lives of the people in the markets in which it operates; its region; and the wider world. Furthermore and inspirational is the participation in these humanitarian efforts and fund raisers by individual Zain personnel, who have felt a deep sympathy of the conditions under which Palestinians in Gaza are currently living under.

Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer said, “What is happening in Gaza is of grave concern to the region, and ought to be for the world. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the inhabitants there, and we hope there will be a quick resolution to the conflict.”

Gegenheimer continued, “Zain is committed to the people of the Middle East region, and through our primary commercial activities as well as our social engagements, we look to build the basis on which societies can develop and prosper. We will continue to support humanitarian efforts to ease the plight of people in Gaza as we would do any community in our region facing similar difficulties.”

Zain Kuwait CEO, Omar Al Omar said: “Zain Kuwait’s initiative in coordination with the Group came to show our full support to the Palestinian people and to ease communication between Palestinians residing in Kuwait and their loved ones in Gaza during the harsh circumstances they are facing”.

Al Omar added: “Zain’s CSR initiatives always spring out of the company’s belief in being part of the communities it operates in. A big part of our CSR strategy focuses on the wellbeing of individuals, and offering this initiative reconfirms Zain’s commitment of utilizing vital telecommunications to provide an important human service.”

Al Omar stressed that Zain believes in transparency and accountability in the activities it undertakes, be they corporate or social, and a reflection of this is the company’s swift and effective response to current events in which people are in most need of being in touch with those they care about.